Businesses of all sizes rely on computers and communication systems now more than ever before. However, the widespread use of computers has not brought about the paperless office anticipated by the visionaries of the 1970s. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) has been developed to provide a standard format for exchanging basic business data among firms that regularly conduct business with one another. EDI may be used to replace a wide variety of common business forms including purchase orders, invoices, shipping and packing slips, and numerous others, to eliminate costs associated with handling paper documents resulting in more efficient utilization of resources and increased accuracy.
The structure and content of electronic documents are defined by transaction sets. Similar to their physical counterparts, standard transaction sets include line items, referred to as data segments, and specific items, referred to as data elements. For example, data elements in an invoice might include quantity, product identification, unit price, and extended price. Hundreds of approved (standardized) transaction sets have been published by standards committees for various industries.
Telecommunications services and products are currently ordered from wholesalers primarily in a manual fashion, either by voice contact or exchange of paper forms. Where electronic methods are in use, they are generally batch-oriented, form-based file exchange processes, or utilize proprietary interfaces which may include Internet browser technology, for example. While some telecommunication companies have implemented EDI ordering systems, these systems typically require manual intervention to enter received EDI orders into the company's internal order system. Although EDI has been proposed for ordering of telecommunication products and services for several years, there has not yet been a significant implementation of EDI for this purpose.
Telephone Local Exchange Carriers (LEC) are now required to provide some type of system and method for Telecommunications Carriers to electronically place orders with an LEC for wholesale bundled exchange products and/or services in addition to unbundled elements of the telecommunications network. The various LECs have developed differing solutions such as providing direct access to their internal ordering systems, creating Internet browser forms for order entry, or creating proprietary application-to-application interface protocols.
The various objects, advantages, and features of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description of the best mode for carrying out the invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.